March sadness in Norman

Friday

Mar 21, 2014 at 11:30 AM

SPOKANE, Wash. — North Dakota State starts a trio of seniors, but a freshman came through in the final minute of overtime as the Bison claimed their first NCAA Tournament win in school history. Carlin Dupree came off the bench when Taylor Braun, the Summit League Player of the Year, fouled out with 1:18 remaining in the extra session. Dupree hit a pair of free throws seconds after stepping onto the floor, which gave North Dakota State a lead, then followed that with a tough layup in traffic to help the 12- seed Bison to an 80-75 upset win over fifth-seeded Oklahoma in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Lawrence Alexander finished with a career-high 28 points to pace North Dakota State (26-6), while Marshall Bjorklund scored 14 points with six rebounds and Braun tallied 11 points on just 3-of-11 shooting. The Bison will face San Diego State on Saturday in the third round.

SPOKANE, Wash. — North Dakota State starts a trio of seniors, but a freshman came through in the final minute of overtime as the Bison claimed their first NCAA Tournament win in school history. Carlin Dupree came off the bench when Taylor Braun, the Summit League Player of the Year, fouled out with 1:18 remaining in the extra session. Dupree hit a pair of free throws seconds after stepping onto the floor, which gave North Dakota State a lead, then followed that with a tough layup in traffic to help the 12- seed Bison to an 80-75 upset win over fifth-seeded Oklahoma in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Lawrence Alexander finished with a career-high 28 points to pace North Dakota State (26-6), while Marshall Bjorklund scored 14 points with six rebounds and Braun tallied 11 points on just 3-of-11 shooting. The Bison will face San Diego State on Saturday in the third round.

Texas 87, Arizona State 85

MILWAUKEE — Cameron Ridley’s putback at the buzzer lifted the Texas Longhorns to an 87-85 triumph over Arizona State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Texas (24-10) trailed by a point in the latter stages when Ridley’s putback layup made it 82-81. After empty possessions both ways, Arizona State (21-12) point guard Jahii Carson drove baseline and dropped off a pass to Jordan Bachynski, whose thunderous dunk put the Sun Devils in front with less than a minute remaining.

Pittsburgh 77, Colorado 48

ORLANDO, Fla. — Talib Zanna scored 18 points to lead the Pittsburgh Panthers to a 77-48 rout of the Colorado Buffaloes on Thursday in the second of the NCAA Tournament. Cameron Wright added 11 points for the ninth-seeded Panthers (26-9).

Dayton 60, Ohio State 59

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Vee Sanford’s runner in the closing seconds gave Dayton the lead and Aaron Craft’s driving shot at the buzzer rolled off the rim, as the Flyers pulled off a 60-59 victory in the second round. Sanford finished with 10 points for the Flyers (24-10).

MILWAUKEE — Oregon had a little less trouble handling BYU in the rematch between the teams. Some extra depth certainly helped. Elgin Cook had a career-high 23 points to go with eight rebounds off the bench.

SPOKANE, Wash. — Wesley Saunders picked up 12 points as Harvard earned surprise postseason wins in back-to-back years. Laurent Rivard sank three triples en route to 11 points, and Siyani Chambers made key late free throws to account for his 11 points for the Crimson (27-4).

Mich. St. 93, Delaware 78

SPOKANE, Wash. — Adreian Payne scored 23 of his game-best 41 points in an explosive first half, as Michigan State dumped Delaware.

UConn 89, Saint Joseph’s 81

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Shabazz Napier sat in the locker room after a first half he said went by too fast and knew he needed to pick his teammates up. He made sure it wasn’t. Napier scored 19 of his 24 points after the first half — including nine in overtime.

Villanova 73, Milwaukee 53

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Darrun Hilliard had 16 points and Villanova pulled away in the second half Thursday night. JayVaughn Pinkston had 13 points and James Bell scored 12 for Villanova (29-4), which won its first regular-season Big East title in eight years.

but fell to Seton Hall on a buzzer beater in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament last Thursday, snapping a six-game winning streak. Austin Arians scored 17 points to lead Horizon League champion Milwaukee (21-14), which had a five-game winning streak snapped after an unexpected run through the conference tournament.

Michigan 57, Wofford 40

MILWUKEE — Big Ten Player of the Year Nik Stauskas poured in 15 points as Michigan rolled to a 57-40 takedown of Wofford in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Glenn Robinson III added 14 points and seven rebounds while Jordan Morgan chimed in with 10 points and 10 boards for the second-seeded Wolverines (26-8), who won seven straight games before falling to rival Michigan State in the finals of the Big Ten Tournament. The Wolverines will take on Texas in the round of 32 on Saturday. Karl Cochran had 17 points to pace 15th seed Wofford (20-13) in defeat, as the Terriers shot just 1-for-19 from behind the arc.

Saint Louis 83, North Carolina State 80 (OT)

ORLANDO, Fla. — Rob Loe scored 22 points and pulled down 15 rebounds as Saint Louis erased a 16-point second half deficit to down North Carolina State, 83-80, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. Jordair Jett added 18 points and Mike McCall Jr. finished with 12 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Billikens (27-6), who will face Louisville in the Round of 32 on Saturday. T.J. Warren poured in a game-high 28 points, but finished just 6-of-14 from the free throw line and fouled out with 27.9 seconds remaining in overtime. Ralston Turner added 16 points and Desmond Lee scored 13 for the Wolfpack (22-14), which went just 20- for-37 from the stripe.

Louisville 71, Manhattan 64

ORLANDO, Fla. — Luke Hancock nailed a pair of 3-pointers in the final 81 seconds to spring Louisville to a 71-64 win over upset-minded Manhattan in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Hancock, who finished with 16 points, had missed his previous three 3-point attempts. Russ Smith finished with a game-high 18 points and Montrezl Harrell added 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Cardinals (30-5), who will face Saint Louis in the Round of 32 on Saturday. Thursday pitted Louisville coach Rick Pitino against former assistant coach and now Manhattan head coach Steve Masiello. Masiello served as Pitino’s assistant from 2005-2011 at Louisville and also played for Pitino at Kentucky from 1996-1997. Additionally, Masiello served as ball boy for the New York Knicks during Pitino’s time coaching the team. Ashton Pankey scored 16 points and Emmy Andujar finished with 13 for the Jaspers (25-8).

San Diego State 73, New Mexico State 69 (OT)

SPOKANE, Wash. — Xavier Thames and San Diego State nearly coughed up the season after giving up a 9-2 run in the final minute of regulation to New Mexico State, forcing overtime. But Thames and the fourth- seeded Aztecs took care of business in the extra session Thursday night to hold off the 13th-seeded Aggies 73-69 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. It was the fourth overtime game of the day — a first for the tournament. Thames finished with a game-high 23 points despite committing a crucial turnover at the end of regulation that kept the door open for New Mexico State. Dwayne Polee II scored 15 points and Josh Davis netted 10 points with a game-high 14 rebounds for the Aztecs (30-4), who will face No. 12 seed North Dakota State in the third round after the Bison upset Oklahoma in overtime. Daniel Mullings led the Aggies (26-10) with 18 points, while 7-foot-5 Sim Bhullar added 14 points with seven rebounds in the loss.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.